Wringer



Sept. 1, 1942. J. sT z ETAL 2,294,583

WRINGER Filed May 15, 1940 INVENTOR. fieyuea Jim! i 2M4 BY %///Z4m a fluke bacafl ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 1, 1942 2,294,583 wnmcea Jacques Stanitz, Warren, and William 0. Duke,

alem, Ohio, assignors to Mullins Manufacturing Corporation, Salem, Ohio, a corporation of New York Application May 13, 1940, Serial'No. 334,694

Claims. (Cl. 68-253) In power driven wringers, such as are commonly inhousehold use in connection with washin machines, it b the common practice to provide a quick release mechanism of such character that, if any foreign body becomes accidentally caught between the power driven rolls, the operator may, by an instinctive action, cause a quick release of the pressure of one roll upon the other and, in many such devices, provision is made for automatically disconnecting the power driven roll from the power source upon release of the roll pressure. 7

The object of our present invention is to provide a very simple yet effective mechanism which may be readily embodied in power driven wringers having quick release pressure mechanisms, by which connection between the power source and the power driven roll may be automatically established or'disestablished, depending upon the condition of the roll pressure mechanism. The clutch operating mechanism is of such character that, upon attempted restoration of the driving connection when its coacting clutch elements are not in mating relationship, no injurious strain can be exerted upon the mechanism but that the mechanism will be in such condition as to promptly establish the driving connection when power is applied to the driving element.

The accompanying drawing illustrates an embodiment of our invention.

Fig. 1 is an axial section of a wringer embodying a quick release roll pressure means, the details of which form no part of the present invention and also embodying the clutching mechanism which is the subject of our present invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the parts shown at the right hand end of Fig. 1 just inside the end plate of the main frame and showing the upper spring carrying bar and the lower part of the main frame in vertical section;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the inner or active face of the clutching element;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the rocker actuator; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the power receiving clutch and rocker arm.

In the drawing It indicates the main base frame which, at each end, is provided with vertical end posts II adapted to receive the bearing blocks 12 for the shaft l3 of the lower roll I and bearing blocks l5 for the shaft l5 of-the upper roll l'l, said bearing blocks being laterally confined in their respective end posts II and vertically removable therefrom. Y

The mainframe is supplemented by a removable top bar, or head, l8 which carries. a spring IS, the ends of which, when impressed'upon the bearing blocks l5, serve to press the upper roll I! upon the lower roll M with the desired pressure when the cross bar I8 is in its seated position across the upper end of the base frame. In the present instance, the base frame H], at one end, near the top, is provided with a pin 20 arranged to be received in the perforation 2| formed through one end wall of the cross bar It, which is conveniently a hollow sheet metal structure as indicated.

At the opposite end of bar Hi, we have shown a depending lever pivoted at 26 to bar l8.

Pivoted at an intermediate point 21 of lever 25 is a link 29 which is pivoted at 30 upon ears 3| carried by the adjacent end'wall of the base frame, the arrangement and proportions of the parts being such that, as lever 25 is swung downwardly by hand, said lever, with link 29, acts as a toggle to draw top bar l8 downwardly against the resistance of spring l9 and thereby press roll l'l upon roll I, and such that when lever 25 reaches the limit of its downward movement, pivot 21 has passed the dead center of the toggle 26-40-21 so that, except for the mechanism now to be described, the toggle would be in a stable position against the tension of spring l9.

As lever 25 nears the limit of its downward movement, it engages and stresses a spring 32 carried by the base frame and moves the lower end of said spring into .position to be engaged and retained by spring latch 33 which maybe retracted by the action of cam lever 34 manipulated by either one of identical push bars 35, 35

arranged at'opposlte sides of the base frame parallel with the rolls. The arrangement is such that spring 32 is comparatively light with only sufficient force to kick lever 25 outwardly just past its dead center so that resistance can be overcome, upon manipulation of the push bars 35, 35, by a very light pressure, much lighter than would be required if, at the time of its release, lever 25 was being restrained against outward movement induced by the tension of spring 19.

The quick release mechanism which has been described above is only one of many which could be utilized for eflfecting the quick release of the pressure exerted by spring l9.

Slidably mounted in the end post ll, most dis.- tant from the quick release mechanism and therefore nearest the connection 20-2|, is a pusher bar 40 which is U-shaped in side elevation as-indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the tips 40,

of the arms of the U being turned outwardly through shallow slots formed in the upper 'edges of the side walls of end post H immediately below the plane of the lower edges of the side walls of the top bar l8 when said bar is in operative position as shown in Fig. l. The adjacent roll shafts project between the upwardly extending arms of pusher bar 48, as indicated in Fig. 2, and said pusher bar conveniently lies between the usual intumed edges of the side walls of end post H and the bearing blocks l2 and I5.

Attached to the base irame adjacent the end Post II in which pusher bar 40 is mounted, is a spring finger 4| provided with an upturned tip 42 which, because of the resilience of spring 4|, may yield downwardly. Spring 4| may be supplemented by a spring finger 43 and the two springs 4| and 43 are anchored on the base by means of the bolts 44.

Fulcrumed upon the upturned tip 42'of spring 4|, is a rocker R, conveniently formed of sheet metal to provide two parallel arms 45, 45 which straddle the adjacent bearing block l2, and two parallel arms 46, 46 connected by cross web 41. The arms 46, 46 straddle a power receiving clutch 48 which is normally coaxial with shaft l3 of the lower roll. Each of the arms 46, 46, at its upper end, is provided with an inturned lip 46' which bears against a thrust ring 49 engaging an annular flange 48 of the clutch element 48. The inner face of the clutch element 48 is provided with radial notches 56 formed to circumferentially interlock with the cross pin I3 carried by the shaft l3. Element 48 is provided with an internal axial chamber 5| within which is nested a spring 52 which abuts the outer end of shaft l3 and biases the clutch element 48 to inactive position, said bias also serving to rock the rocker R clockwise (Fig. 1).

Pusher 40 rests upon arms 45 of rocker R and is of such length that, as topbar I8 is swung downwardly upon pin 20 as a pivot, the pusher bar will be engaged by the top bar to drive the pusher 40 downwardly to rock rocker R counterclockwise (Fig. 1) to shift clutch element 48 to active position in clutching relation with pin l3. If, as often occurs, notches 56 are not in alignment with pin l3 clutch element 48 will nevertheless be moved into engagement with pin l3, but as it will then be incapable of moving to its final active position, spring 4|, the fulcrum for rocker R, will yield downwardly so that no undue stress will be placed upon the mechanism. As

- and separable clutching elements through which power may be delivered to one of said rolls, a lever associated with one of said clutching elements so as to be capable of shifting it to active position, means dependent upon the pressure exerting capacity of the pressure means to move said lever toward clutch activating position, and a yieldable fulcrum for said lever yieldable under pressure applied through the medium of said lever moving means to compensate for lack of :clutch mating while maintaining a bias upon the movable clutch element to shift it to active position when mating occurs.

2. In a wringer comprising a base having channeled end posts, a connecting top bar, a pair of mating rolls, a spring interposed between the top .bar and the upper roll, anchoring means for the top bar comprising releasable mechanism permitting upward movement of one end of said top bar relative to thebase, a pair of mating clutch elements through .which power may be delivered to one of the rolls. one of said clutch elements being movable to the other and normally biased toward inactive position; a spring fulcrum mounted on the base frame, a lever fulcrumed on said spring fulcrum with one arm engaging the movable clutch element to shift it against its bias to active position, and a pusher interposed between the lever and the top bar to shift the lever toward clutch active position when the top bar is anchored in operative position upon the base frame.

3. In a wringer comprising a base frame, laterally separable rolls, pressure means for pressure urging one of said rolls upon the other. quick release anchoring means for said pressure means. and separable clutching elements through which power may be delivered to one of said rolls, a lever associated with one of said clutching elements so as to be capable of shifting it to active position, means dependent upon the soon as power is applied to clutch element 48,

however, its notches 58 will be brought into registry with pin l3 and spring 4| will move back to its normal position so that the clutch element 48 will be carried to its final operative position.

Whenever the quick release anchorage of top bar I8 is released, so as to release the pressure of spring IS on the upper bearing blocks I5, the top bar will be drawn away from the upper end 48 of pusher 40 and spring 52 will operate to shift clutch element 48 axially out of engagement with pin I3 and rocker R will be swung clockwise upon its fulcrum on the tip 42 of sprin 4| and the upper end of pusher 40 will be projected above its normal operative position in position to be again engaged by the top bar I8 when it is returned to operative position.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a wringer comprising a base frame, laterally separable rolls, pressure means for pressure urging one of said rolls upon the other, quick release anchoring means for said pressure means,

pressure exerting capacity of the pressure means to move'said lever toward clutch activating position, and a fulcrum for said lever resiliently yieldable under pressure applied through the medium of said lever-moving means to'compensate for lack of clutch mating while maintaining a bias upon the movable clutch element to shift it to active position when mating occurs.

4. In a wringer comprising a base, coacting wringer rolls, spring means by which one of said rolls may be urged. laterally against the other roll and releasably retained in that condition, and mating clutching elements associated with one of said rolls for the reception of driving power, one of said clutching elements being movable into and out of clutching engagement with the other clutching element; a lever arranged to act upon said movable clutching element to control its position, means dependent upon the position of the first-named springv means for moving said lever to shift said moving clutching element to clutching position, and spring means associated with said lever acting through the lever upon the movable clutching element to bias said clutching element toward clutching position.

5. In a wringer comprising -'a base frame, a top bar anchored at one end of the base frame to permit vertical swinging movements of the top bar and provided at its other end with means by which said other end may be releasably anchored on the base frame, a pair of wringer rolls mounted in the base frame beneath the top bar, and spring means for urging'one roll toward the other when the top bar is anchored at both ends to the base frame; a pair of clutching elements associated with one of said rolls and one movable toward and from the other, a spring biasing the movable clutching element toward non-clutching position, a lever having one arm engaging the movable clutching element, a pusher bar interposed between the other arm of said lever and the top bar, whereby the top bar when anchored at both its ends will hold the movable clutching element in active position, and a base-carried fulcrum for said lever resiliently yieldable under stress applied by the pusher bar.

JACQUES STANITZ.

WILLIAM O. DUKE. 

